Between the nineteenth and twentieth centuries the looms of Busto Arsizio dressed Italy: cotton milling earned it the nickname "Manchester of Italy", and the Textile Museum — in a former Art Nouveau factory — preserves that industrial season, which here is identity rather than nostalgia. The city remains among Lombardy's most industrious.
The sanctuary of Santa Maria di Piazza, a Renaissance jewel of the early sixteenth century, is the artistic surprise at its commercial heart. Strategic position: Milan and Malpensa twenty minutes away, the lakes just beyond — Busto is a practical base that doesn't perform.
Near Busto Arsizio
The closest destinations covered by our editors, with straight-line distance.
